Device for assisting in training horses



(No Model.)

H. O. WOODNUTT.

DEVICE FOR ASSISTING IN TRAINING HORSES.

No 381,745. Patented Apr. 24, 1888.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I HENRY O. WVOODNUTT, OF MINEOLA, NEW YORK.

DEVICE-FOR ASSISTING IN TRAINING HORSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part 01 Letters Patent No. 381,745, dated April 24, 1888.

Application filed August 10, 1887. Serial No. 246,563.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY O. WooDNUTT', of Mineola, in the county ofQueens and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Device for Assisting in Training Horses; and the following is declared to be a description of the same.

lt'sometimes happens that horses become injured upon one side or the other from interfering and other causes, and in their movements upon the road they favor the injured side and travel in a sidewise and labored manner, and the habit remains after the injury is cured. WVhen this condition exists in trotting horses it spoils them for trotting, causing them to place one hind foot partially between the prints of the fore feet or the feet to interfere, instead of placing the hind feet in uniform positions to the front feet.

My invention is designed to cause a horse addicted to the before-named habit to travel straight and move the hind feet and legs evenly and in the proper manner in relation to the path of the fore feet; and to this end my invention relates to an adjustable lateral pressing device that acts against the side of the horse at about the center of the small of the body in front of the hip and upon the short or last floating rib nearest the hip.

Imake use of a clip to be secured upon the shaft of the vehicle, an adjustable arm con- .,,nected therewith, and a wheel carried upon the forked end of this arm,whicl1 wheel causes a pressure against the horse, which compels him to keep in the proper position in the shafts, but allows him to move freely in drawing the vehicle.

In the drawings,-Figure 1 is an elevation of the device made use of by me. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, and Fig. 3 is an elevation showing the manner in which it is applied to a horse.

A represents part of the horse, and B a part of the shaft of a vehicle.

The shaft-clip is composed of the two parts a b, which have hubs a 1) upon their upper ends and lugs upon their lower ends, through which the bolt 0 passes in holding the parts together. The arm at has a hub, d, which is received between the hubs a b, and there is a bolt, h, passing through a central holein these hubs to securely hold them together. The opposing faces of these hubs are made (No model.)

with radial serrations or teeth at i, which engage each other, and when the bolt h is tightened the arm d is prevented from turning and is held rigidly wherever placed. When the bolt his loosened, the parts are free to move like a hinge-joint, and the arm dean be turned and placed at any desired angle and clamped by again tightening the bolt h. The outer end of arm d is forked at c,and through the forked ends there are holes for the bolt g. The wheel fis received between the forked ends eof the arm d,and the boltg passes as an axle through its hub, the wheel f being free to revolve upon said bolt 9.

The perspective view, Fig. 3, illustrates about the position that my improved device occupies upon the shaft B of the vehicle and against the body of the horse, the periphery of the wheel being against the side near the small of the body in front of the hips.

The position of my improved device upon the shaft B may be varied, and the position of the wheelf is adjustable for different-sized horses or shafts, and it may be placed upon either shaft, and said wheel will turn freely on its axle with the upand-down movement of the horse, and will keep thehorse from crowding over to one side of the shafts and stepping in a wrong manner.

A stationary pad or similar device upon the end of the arm d would chafe a horse and make him sore; but with my wheel this is not possible, because it freely moves with any movement of the horse.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with the shaft B and wheel f, of an adjustable clip adapted to be connected upon the shaft, and an arm carrying the wheel f and adj ustably pivoted to said clip, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. a

2. The clip-pieces a b, the hubs a b, having radially-serrated opposing faces 6, the arm d, forked ate and having radially-serrated faces, the wheelf,and the bolts h and g, for connecting the parts, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

Signed by me this 6th day of August, A. D. 1887.

HENRY G. WOODNUTT.

Witnesses:

HAROLD SERRELL, GHAs. H. SMITH. 

